BBC: While President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was outlining his targeted subsidies plan to the people on television on Saturday, riot police were deploying in Tehran’s streets to deal with any protests the lifting of subsidies might trigger.
Fears of unrest after Iran cuts food and fuel subsidies
Iran stops fuel delivery, Afghanistan says, and prices are rising
New York Times: Government officials expressed alarm on Wednesday about what they described as Iran’s unexplained ban on fuel exports to Afghanistan, asserting that at least 1,400 loaded tankers were parked on Iran’s side of three border crossings.
Medvedev says Iran nuclear stance ‘unreasonably tough’
Bloomberg: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Iran’s policy on its nuclear program is “unreasonably tough” and urged inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Energy policy in Iran leaves many gasping
New York Times: One of Tehran’s signature landscapes — the imposing, rugged line of the Alborz Mountains at the city’s northern boundary — has suddenly become an elusive one. Instead, Tehranis’ eyes, and complaints, have turned toward a dense and noxious wall of smog that has only rarely lifted during the past two months.
Berlin slams jailing of Iranian filmmaker
AFP: Germany Wednesday condemned the jailing of Iranian filmmaker and vocal opposition backer Jafar Panahi as “scandalous” and “unacceptable” and called on Tehran to lift the sentence.
Iranian whipped in public for drinking alcohol
Reuters: An Iranian man was given 80 lashes in public for drinking alcohol, ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday, a punishment aimed at discouraging others from such behaviour outlawed in the Islamic Republic.
Iranian truck drivers stay off roads as gas prices rise steeply
Washington Post: Thousands of Iranian truck drivers began a second day of strikes Tuesday after a sharp increase in the price of diesel fuel, transportation company officials said, as the Obama administration announced a further tightening of economic sanctions intended to pressure Iran over its nuclear program.
Iran coach eyes 2011 Asian Cup triumph
AFP: Iran coach Afshin Ghotbi said on Wednesday that he hopes to pilot his side to glory in the 2011 Asian Cup finals and what would be a first title in 35 years.
UN shows ‘deep concern’ over Iran’s rights record
AFP: The UN General Assembly on Tuesday approved a resolution expressing “deep concern” over “recurring” human rights violations in Iran, where authorities have been targeting rights lawyers in their ongoing crackdown on dissent.
U.S. adds to Iran sanctions shortly after nuclear talks
New York Times: The Obama administration on Tuesday imposed new sanctions on Iran, serving notice that it will not ease the pressure on Tehran just because it has begun talking again with the West about its nuclear program.
